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Seven. Thanksgiving
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Touya came home for Thanksgiving on Wednesday morning. His flight from New York City landed just before lunch time and Sakura drove to Logan Airport to pick him up. She beamed when she saw him at his gate.
"Hey there kaiju!" He enveloped her in a tight hug. "I missed you."
Sakura laughed and kissed her brother on the cheek. Kaiju, which meant monster in Japanese, had always been his nickname for her since they were little. "I missed you too! How was your flight?" she asked.
"Pretty good," he replied. "How've you been?"
She grabbed his only piece of luggage, a small duffle which had been his carry-on. "You know, same old--Dad's brothering me about colleges and I'm taking too many AP classes for my own good."
Touya smirked. He looked more like Fujitaka with each year that passed. Now that he had grown out of his awkward lanky phrase, he was beginning to fill into his 62 frame. Touya looked more handsome; the lines of his face were sharper, more distinguished. His dark brown eyes looked like they were somehow older, wiser, like their father. She suddenly wondered whether when Touya looked at her, he saw their mother. Sakura was the only one to have inherited her green eyes. She quickly looked away.
"Right," he said slowly. "You can't fool me with that good girl act, kaiju. I know you've been partying it up with your friends, probably staying out all night now, aren't you?" he teased.
"Nothing of the sort," she swatted his arm and laughed a little louder than she intended. Her brother was closer to the truth than she wanted to admit to herself. "C'mon, let's get you home."
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Tomoyo always joined the Kinomoto family for Thanksgiving.
Her father had died when she was very young; her mother, the CEO and founder of a major toy conglomerate, never remarried. Sonomi Daidouji was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in the world. She lived in four different time zones and almost impossible to get a hold of. Her business made it challenging for her to spend time with Tomoyo. Thanksgiving was one of the holidays sacrificed for her job. The Asian markets dont close because its Thanksgiving in America, Sonomi used to tell Tomoyo.
On Thanksgiving, Tomoyo usually went to the high school football game with KT and Alex, while Sakura and Emma were on the cheerleading squad. Manchester High had a very long rivalry with their neighboring town, Kingston High, so the Thanksgiving Day football game was always a big deal.
However, this Thanksgiving Sakura never saw Tomoyo at the game. When she snuck out during halftime to meet KT and Alex. Neither of them had any idea where Tomoyo was.
"I called her earlier and she never answered her phone," Alex said. "I thought maybe she already left with KT."
"And I thought she left with you," KT replied. "It's not like her to not answer any of our calls and texts."
Sakura frowned. "Do you think she's all right? Maybe we should go over to her house and check?"
KT shook her head. "I dropped by before the game to ask her to get coffee but everyone at her house said they haven't seen her all morning."
Now Sakura was seriously concerned. "Where could she be?"
"Doesn't she usually go to your house for Thanksgiving dinner?" KT asked.
Sakura nodded.
"I'm sure she'll show up then. We'll really start worrying if you don't see her for dinner," KT said.
"Yeah, I think so too," Alex agreed.
"Okay, I hope she's okay," Sakura told her friends before her cheerleading coach called her away.
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Tomoyo did show up for dinner. The doorbell rang just as it was getting dark. But when Sakura greeted Tomoyo at the door, she immediately knew something was wrong.
"Oh my God!" Sakura exclaimed in horror as she quickly tugged Tomoyo upstairs to her room. "Oh my God. You're drunk!"
Tomoyo stumbled against the stairs and giggled loudly. "Okay, so I might have had a bottle of wine earlier." Her voiced drawled.
"Might?" Sakura shoved Tomoyo into her bedroom and shut the door behind them. "Oh my God!" she was freaking out. "Its not even five in the afternoon, Tomoyo! How long have you been drinking?"
Tomoyo swayed on her feet. Her brilliant purple eyes were wild and vacant. "I don't remember. I think I started sometime last night. Maybe a little after midnight."
"Last night?" Sakura hear her own voice squeak loudly. Now, she was seriously freaking out. "Oh my God, are you absolutely out of your mind? What were you thinking? What--how can you do this to yourself? This is like totally not okay!"
Tomoyo collapsed on her bed and made herself comfortable against Sakura's embroidered white cotton sheets. She was still giggling and didn't seem to hear a thing Sakura said. She was a complete mess. Tomoyo's black sweater dress were wrinkled and it looked like she had slept in them; her usually flawless makeup was smudged; her hair has lost its usual volume. Sakura hadn't seen Tomoyo this out of it since--suddenly, it hit her.
"Oh my God," Sakura grasped in horror. "This is about Eriol isn't it?"
Eriol was the only one who could make Tomoyo come unglued like this. Not even Tomoyo's mother had that sort of power of her.
Tomoyo let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob. "Am I that transparent?" She covered her face with her hand, "I think I need more alcohol."
Sakura climbed onto her bed next to her. "Don't be ridiculous," Sakura put her arm around Tomoyo and kissed her hair. "The last thing you need right now is more alcohol. Oh God, Tomoyo. What the hell happened?"
"I don't even know anymore," Tomoyo muttered, her hand still over her eyes.
Sakura got Tomoyo to take a cold shower and change into a new set of clothe. As she came out of Sakura's bathroom, without the heavy scent of alcohol and freshly dressed, she finally said, "I think I'm still in love with him." Tomoyos eye's, still unfocused from her red wine, scanned the bedroom, looking everywhere except Sakuras eyes.
Sakura didn't know what to say. Eriol used to be one of her good friends, before that breakup. She sighed. "I know, Tomoyo. I know you still do," she said and as soon as the words left her mouth she was surprised to find that they were true. Sakura did know this, knew it in the back of her mind even before Tomoyo realized it. The thing was--the thing between Eriol and Tomoyo--that it has always been inevitable. Sakura knew this clearly, partly because she was a hopeless romantic and partly because she knew Tomoyo like how she knew herself.
Tomoyo sat down at the desk. "What am I going to do?"
"I don't know."
"I saw him last night," Tomoyo finally said. "This is crazy. Am I crazy?"
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Sakura didn't know how she survived Thanksgiving. She was pretty sure Touya knew Tomoyo was drunk all through dinner; something about the covert glances he kept giving them. Tomoyo held it together enough to keep Fujitaka from suspecting anything.
All in all, it wasn't that bad.
On Sunday afternoon, Sakura drove Touya back to Logan Airport for his flight back to New York City.
"You know, it's okay if you are having a hard time," he said, as they drove through the tunnel. "I'm here for you."
Sakura gave her brother a quick sideways glance. "Yeah," she said and tried not to cry.
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Authors Note: A much belated update! I am updating a lot more over on LiveJournal though, especially stories in other fandoms. You can add me as a friend (corposant) or you may check my fic archive: community . livejournal . com / 23hummingbirds
Please review!